Contents

Bio

Equal parts brilliant and controversial, scientist Moira O'Deorain is on the cutting edge of genetic engineering, searching for a way to rewrite the fundamental building blocks of life.

Over a decade ago, O'Deorain made waves when she published a controversial paper detailing a methodology for creating custom genetic programs that could alter DNA at a cellular level. It seemed like a promising step toward overcoming diseases and disorders and maximizing human potential.

Dissent among her peers soon followed. Many considered her work to be dangerous because of its perceived ethical shortfalls, and O'Deorain was even accused of having the same unchecked desire for scientific advancement that some believed had caused the Omnic Crisis. In addition, other geneticists were unable to reproduce the results of Moira's research, which further called her discoveries into question. Instead of kickstarting her career, her paper seriously damaged her reputation.

She received a lifeline in an offer from an unlikely source: Overwatch's covert ops division, Blackwatch. She continued her work in the shadows while developing new weapons and technologies for the organization. Her employment was a closely kept secret, until it was uncovered during inquiries following the Venice incident. Many high-ranking Overwatch officials disavowed all knowledge of her affiliation with them.

After Overwatch was disbanded, O'Deorain was forced to turn to unconventional sources of funding. This time, she was invited to join the scientific collective that had founded the city of Oasis. Yet some have whispered that the shadowy Talon organization had already been supporting her for years, aiding her experiments in exchange for utilizing the results for their own purposes.

Though O'Deorain will go to any lengths to make scientific breakthroughs, her work is still unknown to most of the world. But now that she has been freed from all constraints, it is only a matter of time before everything changes.

Story

Background

Over a decade ago, Moira was a renown geneticist pushing the limits of genetic engineering research. It was during this time she published a controversial paper detailing a methodology for creating custom genetic programs that could alter DNA at a cellular level. While intending to be a step toward overcoming diseases and disorders and maximizing human potential, the paper was met with heavy criticism and speculation from her peers. Many considered the research to be far too dangerous because of its perceived ethical shortfalls, and some even accused of having the same unchecked desire for scientific advancement that some believed had caused the Omnic Crisis. In addition, her research was further called in to question when other geneticists were unable to reproduce the results of her research.

Her career and reputation damaged, Moira was given an opportunity to continue her research in secret via Gabriel Reyes and Blackwatch, Overwatch's covert op division. She would go on to develop new weapons and technology for the organisation, and was involved in the research that granted Gabriel the ability to disassemble and reassemble his molecules into a gaseous, wraith-like state.

Retribution (the Venice Incident)

Eight years before the present, Moira was included in a special mission alongside Gabriel, Jesse McCree, and Genji Shimada in Rialto. Under the cover of night, they planned to quietly arrest Antonio Bartalotti, a high-ranked Talon member, for his believed connection to the bombing of a Blackwatch facility in Rome that resulted in the deaths of at least 14 Blackwatch agents and hospitalized Gérard Lacroix.

The team was able to successful infiltrate Bartalotti's compound and meet him in his office. However, Antonio began taunting Gabriel by questioning how it would look on the news for Overwatch to unlawfully abduct a 'respected business man', and stated that even if they were to take him, his 'friends' would have him released within the week.

Gabriel, Jesse, Genji, and Moira entering Antonio's office.

After a brief consideration, an enraged Gabriel shot him. Moira, and Genji supported the decision, while McCree was outraged.

After fighting their way through streets mobilized with Talon agents, Moira and the team were able to reach an extraction point and escape. The "Venice Incident", as it came to be known, became public news and revealed the existence of Blackwatch for the first time. It was during inquiries of the incident that Moira's employment was uncovered. Many high-ranking Overwatch officials disavowed all knowledge of her affiliation with them.

Oasis University

After Overwatch shut down Moira was forced to find another place for funding.

Oasis University

Fortunately, Moira's ambition for the evolution of science fit perfectly with the founders of Oasis, and she would join them as their Minister of Genetics.

Talon

Moira at a Talon Council Meeting.

At some point, Moira became a member of Talons Council of Leaders. She is present at a meeting of the Leaders alongside Reaper, Sanjay Korpal, Maximilien, and
5 other memembers, where Doomfist proposed the organisation start a war.

It is rumored that Talon has been secretly funding her research for many years in exchange for utilizing the results for their own purposes.

Moira channels a long-range beam that both heals allies and bypasses barriers to damage her enemies. While channeling this ability, Moira's movement speed increases greatly, but she cannot perform any other actions.

Default Key: (, , )

"Surrender to my will!"

Besides these abilities, Moira is able to jump, crouch, and perform Quick Melee. Moira does not need to reload, however, her Primary Fire uses a resource system that must be replenished by either dealing damage by her Secondary Fire or waiting for it to recharge naturally.

Unlocks

All seasonal event items, which are marked with special event icons ( • • • • • ), are only available to be unlocked either through their respective Loot Boxes or by Credits within the event's duration.During the event, newly-introduced event items cost three times as much as non-event items of the same rarity, while returning seasonal items are unlocked at the regular price.

Personality

Like many of the other scientists represented in the game, Moira has an outward passion for science and the advancement thereof; however, unlike Mei and Winston, who are both bright-eyed individuals with altruistic motives for their respective researches, and unlike Mercy, who puts the lives and feelings of others before her, Moira doesn't have much in the way of limitations when it comes to how far she'll go in her experiments. She's tested on animals, she's tested on herself, and it was only through the involvement of Blackwatch - and later Oasis and Talon - that she was able to continue her research unimpeded.

In game, Moira gives an air of superiority, especially in her voice lines ("Stupidity is not a right."; "Injured again?"; "Unsightly.") She also doesn't show much in the way of emotion, preferring to act in a state of constant disdain at her surroundings; she will, however, take sadistic pleasure in siphoning the life force of her enemies. Perhaps somewhat oddly for a villain in Overwatch, she seems to take either a neutral or positive stance towards Omnics (though this sentiment is shared by fellow Talon member Doomfist to an extent), as she reflects upon London's "medieval" attitudes towards them when she first spawns in King's Row occasionally.

Jeff Kaplan describes her as "weirdly self-obsessed more than anything", with a thirst for knowledge and a lack of concern for the outcomes of her scientific decisions. He also jokingly described her as "chaotic neutral", referring to the D&D Alignment system.

Merchandise

The Blizzard store lists a Moira T-shirt for sale in Men and Women sizes.

The Blizzard store lists Overwatch Magnet set-series 4, one of them is Moira's icon.

Funko made a Blackwatch T-shirt for the 2018 Archives Retribution event, which includes Moira O' Deorain on the team member list.

Tips

When 1v1ing a hero, deciding which orb to deploy is important. Use Heal orb to survive against Tanks or hard to hit targets, as she can't heal herself otherwise. Use Damage orb for engaging in long-range fights that her beam can't hit, or for finishing off a low health foe.

If you are caught in close quarters with an enemy you cannot beat, remember that your main attack is self-healing. By deploying a Healing Orb and attacking continuously you can heal yourself over 100 dmg/sec, potentially outpacing any damage and keeping you alive until Fade recharges or help arrives.

Let your team know when your healing meter is low. She should not be reliable as a solo healer unless you play her really safe.

Unlike Ana's healing, Moira's primary fire healing beam does not stop when it hits an ally. In a tight corridor, you can hit multiple teammates all at once.

Her Ultimate should only be used with team support. Throwing out a Healing orb will keep you sustained during it. Moving from side to side of the payload is important for hitting many targets.

Moira’s secondary attack can allow her to sustain in 1v1’s against heroes who apply damage slowly over time like Winston, Mei, or Symmetra.

Her secondary attack has a surprising range, despite the beam appearing to be very short. The beam has the same range has Roadhog’s Chain Hook, meaning you can safely approach enemies from a moderate distance.

Moira's damage orb can pass through Reinhardt and Orisa's shields, making it an excellent way of discommoding teams hiding behind a shield.

Though it can pass through keep in mind that it does not deal damage through the shield, only when it has passed the obstruction.

Because Moira's orbs bounce, throwing them into enclosed areas can make them hard to dodge or have them affect multiple targets enclosed. In circular areas, aiming carefully can have the orb continuously circulate until it runs out. In areas with low ceilings, throwing the orb straight down or upwards is the best way to maximize its use in a specific location as it will just bounce up and down, making it's healing/harming effect practically stationary.

Moira's Fade is similar to a culmination of Reaper's Wraith form and Tracer's Recall. It allows her to move rapidly for a short time as Blink does, but with the ability to determine her path like a Wraithing Reaper, and the ability makes her impervious to damage like both Recall and Wraith. Fade is her best option for escaping from a fight, also being her only reliable option. Although the player sees themselves moving, to the enemy's point of view, it looks like Moira disappeared. Just as Recall does, Fade allows Moira to avoid quick ultimates if timed correctly, similarly to D.va's Self Destruct, Junkrat's Rip-Tire, and McCree's Deadeye.

Despite its speed, Fade does not lock the direction Moira is going, players with enough practice and timing can actually create curved paths to teleport into more specific points such as behind walls or ending facing a different direction.

Despite an early bug preventing it, Moira can fade through enemies and allies.

Moira's damage orb carries a fixed amount of 200 damage, just enough to kill most heroes in the DPS and Healer category. When an ally is in the path of a biotic orb and unable to dodge, it is recommended for the rest of the team to "share" the orb and mitigate the damage.

Moira's ultimate (coalescence) takes a pretty steady hand when moving into different directions and does more effective damage when opponents are grouped up. It also heals your allies, which comes in handy if team members are low health.

Trivia

Moira was first teased in the comic Masquerade, but it was unknown to anyone at the time that this character was, in fact, Moira. She was officially revealed on November 3, 2017, at BlizzCon 2017, then added to the PTR on November 6, 2017.

She is the first Overwatch character to have Heterochromia iridum, the condition of having 2 differently colored eyes. (In her case, her left eye is blue and her right eye is red/brown.) As can be seen in her 'Foundation' spray from the Archives 2018 event, she was born with the condition.

She is the second hero to be added to the game that can melee with both of her hands at random. The first is D.Va.

It is possible that her design was based on Moira Thaurissan, a priest in World of Warcraft.

Moira's golden weapon design, upon release, was just her cuffs. It was not until later that she also had golden nails with her gold weapon design.

Moira's nails will not be gold with a golden weapon equipped if the player also has a team skin equipped.

Moira's team skins usually have one color on the top of her long nails and another color on the bottom.

Her Éireannach skin in the Summer Games makes her left eye green instead of her normal blue. Also, the name Éireannach means "Irish Woman" or "an Irish person."

Moira's skill in genetics and in-game interaction with Widowmaker implies that she contributed to Widowmaker becoming the perfect assassin.

One of Moira's original concept art has her wearing the Blackwatch skin, but holding a tank resembling the icon. Furthermore, the concept outfit is black and does not include a hat (like the Blackwatch skin later would).

Moira's origin trailer shows her being the one responsible for creating Reaper by altering the DNA of Gabriel Reyes.

The Oasis map had a special interaction between Reaper and Sombra that teased Moira's release. Sombra asked, "What are we doing here, boss?" with Reaper replying, "I am here to visit an old friend."

The Blackwatch outfit/skin for Moira was first shown in the Retribution comic.

It is revealed in the Retribution event that Moira likes to dress up and enjoys art.

Michael Chu revealed the name of the rabbit from her Origin story is "Better Angela", indicating her rivalry relationship with Dr. Angela Ziegler.[1]

Cultural references

In the Summer Games event Moira got a skin called, Éireannach, which means "Irish woman" or "an Irish person."

The Éireannach outfit replaced her left blue eye with a green.

Moira is born from Ireland's capital, Dublin, like her voice actress Genevieve O'Reilly.

A small Ireland flag is on Moira's Éireannach outfit above her right breast.

Moira's name may be a reference to the Greek mythological "Moirai" (more often known as the Fates), white-robed incarnations of destiny that dictated the course and events of each and every mortal's lifespan. This could be reflective of Moira's desire to change and chart the evolutionary path of mankind.

Moira's name is most likely an Anglicisation of the Irish name Máire and her last name could be Anglicised as O'Dorian, perhaps a reference to the fictional immortal Dorian Grey.

Her name might also come from Doctor Moreau, from the novel by H. G. Wells, the island of Doctor Moreau, where the said character is a mad scientist and the novel deals with a number of philosophical themes, including pain and cruelty, moral responsibility, human identity, and human interference with nature.

Michael Chu confirmed that the development team referenced anime in her sprays.

The game developers also wanted her to be instantly recognizable when fans see her on the field as her running animation is similar to the popular anime character Naruto. [2]

Her face appearance, the red hair, the heterochromia and her Glam skin could be based on David Bowie, while the patch on her left eye could be a reference to the Phantom of the Opera.

(Confirmation needed) Her kit and bio could also be based on Kala Kapur from the universe of Evolve: both share the same occupation of geneticists and scientists who experimented on themselves for the sake of becoming stronger.

Both are able to fire a long-range beam that saps either the health of the enemies, either the armor of the monsters. They can also throw orbs to damage enemies and teleport with the exception of Kala having to place two teleporters to make them functional.